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Author Notes:My mother's cream cheese cookies couldn't be easier to make, which makes them ideal for last-minute bake sales or houseguests. They're chewy in the center, where the texture is kind of like a coconut macaroon, with buttery, burnished edges that crumble like a sandcastle gently collapsing. The cream cheese gives the cookies a nearly unidentifiable tang that keeps you reaching for just one more.

My favorite part, though? My mother got the recipe at a Tupperware party in the 70s. One of the women brought a batch of the cookies with her, and at the end of the party, she dictated the ingredients and instructions to all of the other guests. Who knows how many subtle variations of this recipe exist today, legendary among countless other families? —Merrill Stubbs

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a standing mixer or hand beaters, cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Mix in the flour and salt, just until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and give it a quick stir with a spoon to make sure everything is evenly mixed.

Drop the batter by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each cookie (they will spread a little). Bake for about 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Do not over-bake, or the cookies won't be chewy! Cool slight on the cookie sheet, and then remove the cookies with a spatula and let them finish cooling on a rack.

After reading the comments about spreading, here's what worked for me: I chilled the dough and formed small balls, between marble and walnut size. After the first batch spread and joined at the edges (I had flattened the balls into disks) I reduced oven temp to 300º, spaced them wider, ~3 inches apart without flattening, and baked for 12-14 minutes. They formed beautiful perfect round wafers with brown edges and are delicious.

I just made a batch of these, as written, minus 2 tablespoons of sugar. I have a cookie scoop that measures exactly 1 tablespoon, and I got 25 cookies out of the recipe. My oven bakes a little slow, so it took 14-15 minutes per cookie sheet, and the edges were just barely browned, but I let them sit on the cookie sheet for a bit longer than I intended, & they developed that beautiful, golden ring around the edges of the almost pure white cookies. We tried a couple while they were still a little warm, and thought, "What is everyone raving about?" BUT, after dinner we had a couple more, and, oh, my goodness! They have a scrumptious, wonderful, cheesecake-y flavor. Thank you so much, for a new family favorite! Can't wait to serve them to friends.

These are crazy tasty. I made mine with mascarpone since I didn't have regular cream cheese and it started to separate in the stand mixer. Cookies came out oily, prob since I used the wrong cheese, but I ate five immediately anyway. So delicious and will use regular cream cheese next time.

Hey everyone! this is my first time commenting on a recipe! I'm a self-taught baker and have recently been going through the food52 baking book! I used the 365 cream cheese brand regular, weighed all the dry ingredients and ended up with very mushy oily cookies. then i realized why. i only had Earth Balance butter and thats all OIL! so now i'm going to try an unsalted butter like Land O' Lakes and do this again later today.

I read a few of the comments prior to baking these and thereby 1) reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup, 2) added a bit of nutmeg (about 1/4 tsp) and used a well known cream cheese brand. They turned out great - not too sweet, nutmeg added a bit of spice and spreading was minimal. Will add them to my Christmas cookies line up!

Really good cookie, excellent with a cup of tea! Might just be me, but they were a tad too sweet for such a rich cookie. I may cut back on the sugar next time even if just by a tablespoon. Also, some fresh grated nutmeg stirred in with the dry ingredients would take these to a whole new level!

I made these and they were really delicious but mine did not spread at all! I think it's because I didn't wait for the butter to come to room temperature. But in the end, I kinda liked the "mistake" of button-shaped cookies. They did take longer in the oven, around 15 minutes. Here are some pictures: http://on13thstreet.tumblr...

Hi Laura -- I just took a look at your link. You say you used whipped cream cheese. That's really quite a different sort of ingredient from regular cream cheese that comes in a block. That could be what made the difference in your cookies. Also, somewhere among these comments are mine. I found that using a brand of block cream cheese other than the commonly available Philadelphia brand made my cookies spread into one giant cookie. If you try these again, use Philadelphia brand (not low-fat). I'm betting yours will look a lot more like the Food52 photo,

I just made these. They're lovely. I'm wondering though: if I spoon out heaping tablespoons of batter, I only end up with about 12 cookies. Is there a mistake? Should it read heaping "tea-"spoons? Or should I just expect 12 cookies instead of 24? Thanks.

Has anyone tried freezing this cookie dough yet? Does it freeze well? Also, I've seen mixed comments on making more than one batch at a time . Has anyone tried making a triple batch or more at a time and did they come out ok?

Has anyone tried freezing this cookie dough yet? Does it freeze well? Also, I've seen mixed comments on making more than one batch at a time . Has anyone tried making a triple batch or more at a time and did they come out ok?

This is a keeper! I've made only the first dozen and we've already eaten 6 of those! The next dozen will be wrapped up asap then sent off to my husband's office tomorrow for them to enjoy. Unbeknownst to them, they help me stick my diet... I get the pleasure of baking and tasting a few then the rest go off to them!

I just made these, but added @ 1/2 cup more flour ( I am at 8300 feet altitude in Cuenca, Ecuador and have learned to adjust for it). The cookies came out perfect...crisp on the outside/chewy on the inside as advertised. I gave each a slight dusting of powdered sugar. Thank you for a great recipe.

Baking time was the same, except for one note. This is the first time I've used a silicon baking sheet, and that required longer cooking. The cookies on the sheets where I used traditional parchment were great with the 12 minute time.

I have a question about the recipe "Cream Cheese Cookies" from merrill. Has anyone tried the low-fat cream cheese Neuchatel (sp?) I've been told to stay on a low-fat, low-carb diet and the low-fat dairy products seem to be better for my diet.